Official UK procurement notice
003271 - Online Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) application provider
Authority: Durham County Council (Local council)
DCC undertakes DBS checks on all employees in posts identified as requiring a DBS check in accordance with the DBS eligibility criteria; plus DBS checks for carers, fostering, adoption, taxi drivers, volunteers and maintained schools, amongst others. Checks ensure full compliance with recruitment processes, as well as statutory requirements. However, it should be noted that the number of applications processed may be subject to fluctuation due to organisational change, renewals required and policy decisions arising from national changes to disclosure and barring eligibility criteria.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionDCC undertakes DBS checks on all employees in posts identified as requiring a DBS check in accordance with the DBS eligibility criteria; plus DBS checks for carers, fostering, adoption, taxi drivers, volunteers and maintained schools, amongst others. Checks ensure full compliance with recruitment processes, as well as statutory requirements. The Council also operates a rechecking process for employees, currently set at 5 years.
We are seeking to formally procure the services of a DBS umbrella registered body, who will provide an electronic administration platform for the submission of DBS application forms and for the subsequent check results to be visible to users within DCC (E-Bulk System).
We anticipate a requirement to process approximately 5,000 DBS applications per year for the Council. However, it should be noted that the number of applications processed may be subject to fluctuation due to organisational change, renewals required and policy decisions arising from national changes to disclosure and barring eligibility criteria. For avoidance of doubt, the spread of applications will not be uniform across any period.
CPV: Software package and information systems
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£1,250,000
- Technical & professional ability
Confirm that your organisation is an approved DBS umbrella body / registered body authorised to provide e-bulk services and countersignatory services for the types of checks required under this contract.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (6)
- Service delivery model and end-to-end DBS processing: 10%
- Advice, guidance and helpdesk support: 5%
- Contract Mobilisation: 5%
- System Demonstration: 10%
- Desirable System Functionality: 5%
- Price - Administration charge per application: 65%
Published award criteria (6)
- Service delivery model and end-to-end DBS processing
- Advice, guidance and helpdesk support
- Contract Mobilisation
- System Demonstration
- Desirable System Functionality
- Price - Administration charge per application: Please note, the administration charge excludes the statutory DBS certificate fees, however statutory fees are included in the contract value. The administration charge must include all costs for the requirements in the specification. No additional payment will be made in addition to the fixed administration charge per application.
- Technical & professional ability
Confirm that your organisation is an approved DBS umbrella body / registered body authorised to provide e-bulk services and countersignatory services for the types of checks required under this contract.
- Price carries 65 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 6.5 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 18 May 2026, 18:46 BST
- Last source update
- 25 Sept 2026, 09:15 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 24 Nov 2026
- Authority reference
OPEN20261396- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-090804- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-069b6cFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 29 Oct 2026, 10:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 23 Oct 2026, 10:00 BST
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Full tender documents can be accessed free of charge at www.open-uk.org ↗
Reference: OPEN20261396
Submission and clarification questions must be made via the Open Portal.
Timeline
18 May 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 7 dates- Planning notice published176 days ago18 May 2026, 18:46 BST
- Market engagement162 days ago1 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
This notice forms part of our preliminary market engagement, offering you the opportunity to share feedback and comments before the opportunity is released for formal tender submissions.
Interested providers can access the written response questions, free of charge, by registering on the Open Portal at www.open-uk.org ↗
- Tender notice published46 days ago25 Sept 2026, 09:15 BST
- Clarification questions by18 days ago23 Oct 2026, 10:00 BST
- Submission deadline12 days ago29 Oct 2026, 10:00 GMT
- Today11 Nov 2026
- Award decision expected byin 13 days24 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 140 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
6 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 18 May 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 May 2026, 18:46 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published25 Sept 2026, 09:15 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £1,250,00025 Sept 2026, 09:15 BSTwas £1,200,000
- Status changed to active25 Sept 2026, 09:15 BST
- Procurement method changed25 Sept 2026, 09:15 BST
- Deadline published: 29 Oct 2026, 10:00 GMT25 Sept 2026, 09:15 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender